An agricultural harvester e.g., a plant cutting machine, such as, but not limited to, a combine or a windrower, generally includes a header operable for severing and collecting plant or crop material as the harvester is driven over a crop field. The header has a plant cutting mechanism, e.g., a cutter bar, for severing plants or crops via, for example, an elongate sickle mechanism that reciprocates sidewardly relative to a non-reciprocating guard structure or a row unit with gathering chains and deck plates.
After crops are cut, they are collected inside the header and transported via draper belts toward a feederhouse located centrally inside the header. To help facilitate cutting crops, headers are often designed to allow the cutter bar to flex or pivot to accommodate any change in terrain so that the cutter bar can better track the surface. However, unlike the cutter bar, a conventional draper belt is not configured to flex to match motion of the cutter bar. Consequently, when the cutter bar flexes, the cut crop may not properly lay on the draper belt which can create wasted and/or uncollected crop.
Furthermore, as crops are cut and transported to the draper belt, debris may also be pulled along with the crop. The debris, or even portions of the cut crop itself, may lodge itself into the gaps between the draper belts and the cutter bar. This can potentially cause significant damage to the operation and life of the cutter bars, draper belts, or other components of the header's inner machinations.
Therefore, what is desired is a header that is capable of accommodating for changes in terrain while still maintaining efficient crop gathering. When the disclosed exemplary embodiments are is used in combination with an agricultural harvester, the exemplary embodiment overcome one more of the disadvantages referenced above by providing a header having a guide assembly connectable to the draper belt assembly for guiding and sealing the draper belt.